Copy-holder.



No. 672,278. Patented Apr. l6, I901. E B. MERRILL.

GOPY HOLDER.

(Application fild Sept. 29, 1900.) (No Model.)

wzm W Z UNITED STATES Parent EDWARD BELDEN MERRILL, OF TORONTO, CANADA,ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO CHARLES EDWARD AROIIBALD, OF SAME PLACE.

COPY-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 672,278, dated April16, 1901.

Application filed September 29, 1900. $erial No. 31,577. \No model.)

To all whom it 777/067,! concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD BELDEN MER- RILL, of the city of Toronto, inthe county of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvementsin Copy-Holders, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in copy-holders more particularlydesigned for stenographers use; and the object of the invention is todevise a device of this class in which there will be a minimum amount ofadjustment necessary of the copy-holder itself in order to adapt it forvarious purposes for which it is intended; and it consists, essentially,of a copy-holder provided with ahinged flap which is spring-held on aplane with the main surface of the holder, a rigid frame being also heldin the top surrounding the flap and the copy-holder being supported atthe back by hinged adjustable supports and the parts being otherwiseconstructed and arranged in detail, as hereinafter more particularlyexplained.

Figure l is a perspective view of my copyholder. Fig. 2 is a rear viewof the copyholder. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail showing as the board Aand is held to the same at the sides I) extend slightly forward, so asto cause the bar I) to extend in front of the flap A.

O is a book which is held in position by means of the upper cover andleaves, which are inserted between the bar I) and the flap A by pressingupon the lower portion of the flap and forcing it backwardly. When it isdesired to turn over the leaf, it is raised upwardly by the hand andthen pressed when in the upper position, so that the fingers in pressingpress upon the lower edge of the flap and cause the whole leaf to slipthrough freely of itself and assume the position shown in full lines inFig. 1. Before raising a leaf the marker may be moved downwardly; but asa usual thing it is quite easy enough to friotionally move the leafupwardly from underneath the marker and pass it underneath the cross-barb, as before described. The top of the flap A having atendency to pressagainst the rear of the cross-bar b, it will be seen that the book willbe frictionally held in position very securely between such crossbar I)and the top of the flap.

D is the clip, which is bent at the ends in the form shown into the longspring-lip d and the short spring-lip d. When the cover is first held inposition, in order to form an auxiliary means for holding such coversecurely the clip D may be inserted in position from the one end, as itis wider than the board itself, and then the opposite small end of theclip made to grip the board at the back by moving the clip toward theboard, when the clip will be securely held in position. By reversing theclipthat is, putting the back toward the front-the small end 61 servesto hold the sheets fastened together at the corners and enables them tobe turned over very readily, exposing the sheets underneath themsuccessively.

E is the line-marker, which is bent, as shown, and fastened to a bracketE. The bracket E is U-shaped in cross-section, and the rear portionthereof fits the edge grooves of, made in the side of the board.

6 represents fiat springs which are securely fastened to the front sideof the bracket E and project beyond the edge of the rear portion e ofthe bracket, which is narrower than the front portion, as indicated. Bypressing the springs against the front of the board the bracket isforced into position, so that the portion 6 fits within the groove, andthe springs hold the marker, but allow it easy movement from top tobottom. If it is desired to remove the line-marker, all it is necessaryto do is to merely press the front of the bracket against the board,whereupon the springs will be compressed and the marker removed withease.

The back of the board is provided with strips G G, which are suitablysecured thereto and have connected to the bottom of them the cushions gg, which are made, preferably, in the form of a loop and are suitablysecured to the bottomof the strips, as indicated. Such cushions extendbelow the bottom of the shelf a. Near the tops of the strips Garesecured the lugs or projections g g, which are made with holes g inthem.

H H are knobs, which have right and left hand threaded holes cut inthem. The knobs have secured in them also the ends of the U- shaped armor support h.

I is a U-shaped arm or support, which is provided with bent ends t',which have right and left hand threads cut on them, the detail of oneend being shown in Fig. 5. The threaded ends it extend into the knobs HH and are provided at the outside'of the lugs g g with theadjusting-nuts 'i. It will be seen that by swinging the arm h inwardlythe knobs will be turned so that the adjacent nuts are brought tofrictionally hold against the lugs g and form a secure support for thecopy-holder when it is desired to have it in a position not far from theperpendicular. Where, however, it is desired to place the copy-holder onmore of a slant, the nuts z" may be loosened, so as to allow of thesupporting-arm I being thrown close into the back of the copy-holder.The supportingarm h then may be swung outwardly, so as to draw the nuts2" toward the lugs g, and thereby make the arm h a rigid support for thecopy-holder.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a copy-holder, the combinationwith the board, of a top flap hinged to the back of the top of the boardand spring-held to normally abut the top of the board and besubstantially on a plane with the same and rigid means in front of theflap near the top edge whereby the leaves and cover of the book are heldsecurely as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a copy-holder, the combination with the board,'of a top flaphinged to the back of the top of the board and spring-held to normallyabut the top of the board and be substantially on a plane with the same,the U- shaped frame at the top of the flap securely fastened at the topof the board and substantially surrounding the front portion of the flapas and for the purpose specified.

3. In a copy-holder, the combination with the board, of a top fiaphinged to the back of the topof the board and spring-held to nor* mallyabut the top of the board and be substantially on a plane with the same,the U- shaped frame at the top of the flap securely fastened at the topof the board and substantially surrounding the front portion of theflap, the sides of said frame having angled ends extending into the topof the board as and for the purpose specified.

4:. The combination with the board, the spring-hinged fiap, the rigidbracket in front of the same, of the holding-clip provided with the longand short back spring-lips, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination with the board, of a marker designed to extend acrossthe book, and having a bracket-shaped end substantially U-shaped incross-section, and springs held against the board, a bent-over end ofsaid bracket sliding in a groove in the back of the board, as and forthe purpose specified.

6. The combination with the board and strips and lugs secured theretoand the knobs located to the inside of the lugs and having the ends ofthe minor supporting-arm connected thereto, one of said knobs having aright-hand-threaded hole and the other a lefthand-threaded hole formedthrough the center, of the larger U-shaped supporting-arm having theupper bent ends and right and left hand threads formed on them fittinginto the correspondiugly-threaded knobs and the adjacent nuts on suchends at the outer ends of the lugs as and for the purpose specified.

EDWARD BELDEN MERRILL.

Witnesses L. TRIMBLE, L. BLAOKMORE.

